


A New York Kind of Love

by MaybeItWasMemphis



Category: Criminal Minds (US TV)
Genre: F/M, Family Feels, Family Fluff, Fluff, Fluff and Smut, My writing has gotten better, Not Beta Read, Romance, Smut, Two-Shot, old story, please don't judge
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-17
Updated: 2020-05-17
Packaged: 2021-03-02 23:01:12
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,357
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24224734
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MaybeItWasMemphis/pseuds/MaybeItWasMemphis
Summary: Briar Williams is a twenty-nine-year-old single mother to a two-year-old daughter. She’s also a washed up pop star having been a part of an all-girl pop band (Tru Dezire) at the beginning of the new millennium. Now, she makes her living as a judge on the hit reality TV talent search, America’s Got Talent, which has recently started hosting the live shows in Washington, DC. During the last weekend of on-the-road auditions for the show, while her daughter is being cared for by her mother, Briar meets FBI Agent David Rossi in New York. They share a passionate weekend together before, scared of getting her heart broken again, Briar flees in the middle of the night while Dave sleeps.David Rossi can’t get Briar Williams out of his head. He hadn’t intended for their weekend together to be a solitary event. He had been willing to do anything to make a relationship with her work but she had run off before he had gotten the chance to tell her that. Arriving home in DC, Dave finds fate handing him a second chance when he spots a new billboard on the freeway...REPOST FROM MY OLD ACCOUNT
Relationships: David Rossi/Original Female Character(s)
Kudos: 18





	1. PART I: BRIAR

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I am in no way connected to the television show Criminal Minds. Criminal Minds is owned by the idiots over at CBS. 

“Give me a sigggggnnnn...” The middle-aged delusional woman screeched as, Simon, Howie, Mel, and I all hit our buzzers at the same time.

“No, just no.” I shook my head.

Howie was pretending to clean out his ears to fix his hearing and Mel was laughing too hard to actually speak.

“Sweetheart, I never thought I would say this but you butchered that song worse than Britney normally does.” Simon drawled and I hid a laugh behind my hand. I had to remember that I was supposed to be one of the nice judges.

After twelve hours of horrible audition after horrible audition, with only a few truly talented acts in the mix, we were finally released for the day.

Seeing as the night was still young, and Mel was newly single after a disastrous ten-year marriage, I let her drag me out for a night on the town.

We ended up at _Destino_ , an Italian restaurant owned by my friend from back in my bubblegum pop days, Justin Timberlake. It was quiet, had good food, and a nice drink selection. What? You thought we were going to go out club hopping? We were two single mothers. Mel had three daughters ranging in age from five to eighteen and I had a two-year-old daughter named, Jasmine. If we wanted noise, we could go home. Out on the road for auditions, when we went out, we sought relaxed restaurants with plenty of good food, wine, and friendly girl talk.

“Oh my God,” Mel hid her face behind her menu as she spoke. “There is an Italian Stallion checking you out over at the bar.”

I turned to see who she was talking about. He was easy to spot. He was older. Probably in his late forties or early fifties, had salt n pepper hair - complete with matching goatee - was wearing a snug pair of designer jeans and a crisp, white, button-down shirt...and was looking at me like I was something that he wanted to eat.

When he noticed that I was staring in his direction, he inclined his head for me join him at the bar.

“Go!” Mel pushed, giggling like the British schoolgirl that she hadn’t been in close to three decades.

“What about you?” I asked, even though I was already getting to my feet and grabbing my purse, butterflies forming in my belly.

“Gerard Butler just walked in...solo.” She smirked.

I rolled my eyes. “Mel, be good. You promised yourself no more bad boys.” I reminded her.

“I know how to handle Scots,” She waved me away as she started fixing her hair.

A little apprehensively, I approached the bar. The handsome man stood and pulled out a stool for me when I reached his side.

“Thank you,” I smiled as I sat down and he retook his seat beside me.

“Anything for you, bella.” He responded smoothly as he held out his hand. “David Rossi, but you can call me Dave.”

“Briar Williams,” I gave him my hand. Instead of shaking it, he laid a gentle kiss on my knuckles, causing a shiver to go up my spine. “It’s nice to meet you, Dave.”

“You as well, cara,” He nodded. “What brings you here, tonight?” He asked to make conversation.

“I’m in New York for work and a friend and me wanted a quiet night on the town...another friend of ours owns this place,” I explained.

“I’m not taking you away from your friend, am I?” He really didn’t seem too concerned if he was as his hand came to rest on my knee.

“No,” I laughed. “She’s busy over there putting the moves on the King of Sparta. You’ve given her a good reason to ditch me.” I pointed to a corner booth where Mel was seated, pressed up against Gerard Butler, whispering and giggling in his ear. Damn, that woman moved fast.

Dave just laughed.

“What brings you here?” I asked simply because I really didn’t know what else to say.

“Work, same as you...and a friend told me the food here was good.” He replied before giving my thigh a gentle squeeze. “The company doesn’t seem too bad either.”

For the next two hours, Dave and I made easy conversation. I found out that he was a criminal profiler for the FBI and was in town giving a series of lectures on serial killers. I told him that I was in town doing some theater work. He didn’t seem to know who I was and for some reason, I found myself embarrassed by what I did for a living in front of Dave. He was so smart and successful. I was a high school dropout who lucked out by having a pretty voice and being a voluptuous green-eyed blonde. It didn’t take a rocket scientest to win a Disney star-search contest like I had when I was twelve. That was the only real reason I had a career. Luck. Plain and simple.

By the end of the night, Dave had scooted his stool closer to mine and sat with his arm around my shoulders, speaking almost directly into my ear.

“Do you wanna come back to my room with me, bella?” His voice was rich and husky and his scotch-scented breath was warm on my ear as he spoke.

God, I wanted to. I hadn’t been with a man since Jasmine’s father...and that relationship had turned out disastrously. But this didn’t have to be a relationship, did it? It could just be a night of fun while in a city far from home. I didn’t always have to be the good girl. I could be a little naughty if I wanted to.

“Yes,” I turned my head and boldly laid a quick kiss on his lips.

He was staying at in a suite that had once been President Kennedy’s private room at the _Carlyle Hotel_. I briefly stopped to wonder how an FBI agent afforded this kind of luxury but the moment I felt him come up and wrap his arms around me from behind, I stopped caring.

He started laying gentle kisses down my neck but I stopped him before things escalated by turning around and putting a hand to his chest.

“Hold on,” I pulled away and looked at the clock on the nightstand. It was only ten. Not too late to call my mom and check up on Jasmine. No matter where I was or what I was doing, there was no way I could relax until I had checked on my baby. “There’s something that I need to do first...”

“Sure, cara, go ahead.” He nodded as I pulled my smartphone out of my purse and dialed my mom’s home number in Virginia.

I was hoping that what he was about to hear wouldn’t turn him off as my mom answered.

“Hey, sugar, how was your night?” Momma answered. I had called to say goodnight to Jasmine earlier and had told Momma about my plans.

“Enjoyable,” I responded, shooting Dave a flirty smile. “How’s Jazzy?”

“Asleep. The little pumpkin made me read her Little Red Riding Hood twice before she would go to bed.”

I chuckled and turned to look out the window. Jasmine really liked her fairy tales...it might have had something to do with my own love for them. I did name my daughter after a Disney princess after all.

“Alright, Momma, I just wanted to check in. When she wakes up, tell Jazzy I love her. I'll call in the morning.” I quickly ended the call and turned back to face Dave with a sheepish smile on my face. “Sorry, my mom’s looking after my daughter for the weekend and I always check in before going to bed.”

This is was it. I waited for him to ask me to leave. Nothing turned off a man more than a single mother.

I was surprised when he gave me a gentle smile and moved to take me back in his arms.

“Don’t be sorry, tesoro mia.” He nuzzled my nose with his own. “You’re a good mama, but, I have to ask - Am I playing in another man’s backyard right now?”

“What?” I was confused.

“Your daughter’s father...” He prompted.

Oh! He thought that I might be cheating on my imaginary boyfriend/husband.

“Was only really in the picture long enough to conceive her.” I laughed...and it sounded a little bitter, even to my own ears.

“Scemo,” He muttered, more to himself than to me.

I had no idea what he said but every time he spoke Italian, my panties got a little wetter.

“His loss...my gain.” He whispered as he rained kisses from my jaw, down my neck, and back up again before finally taking my lips in what could only be described as a hungry kiss. I could taste and smell the expensive scotch he had been drinking back at Destino’s. His goatee tickled my chin and I found that I actually kind of liked the sensation.

Before I really even knew what had happened, I found myself naked and laying in the middle of the bed as I watched Dave finish undressing...after he had spent a good twenty minutes between my legs taking me to the brink of nirvana. When he dropped his jeans, taking his boxers along with them, and I finally got a look at what he was packing...I actually got a little scared. My only previous lover had been Jasmine’s father and he hadn’t been nearly as big.

He must have seen the fear in my eyes because he joined me on the bed and came to lay between my spread thighs before leaning down and laying a kiss just below my ear. “I won’t you hurt you, Briar.” He promised. “I only want to make you feel good, cara.” He sat up on his knees so he could run his hands up my stomach and ribcage before kneading my breasts in both hands. “Tu sei bella, la mia rosa.”

Again I couldn’t understand what he said, but his words were spoken almost reverently. They made me feel special, cherished even.

I reached up and caressed his cheek. “Please, Dave, I want you, baby.”

With a grin, he again positioned himself between my legs and began to rub his considerable length against me.

“Are you on anything, bella, or do I need to go and grab a condom?” He asked against my lips. “I swear to you that I’m safe.”

Could I really trust him? I had only met him a few hours ago. For all I knew, everything he had told me tonight had been a lie. Still, something inside me told me that I could trust him...at least when it came to this.

“I’m on the pill.” I kissed him. “And I haven’t been with anyone since my daughter was born. I’m safe too.”

“That’s what I wanted to hear, cara mia.” He leaned down and stole my lips in a lazy kiss as he slowly started to push inside of me.

I had never been stretched like that in my life but it felt amazing. Dave fit so snugly inside of me that it almost felt like we were a perfect fit...like we were made to be doing this with each other...

I shook those thoughts out of my head as he began to rock gently back and forth inside of me to give me time to adjust to his size. It wasn’t long before I was begging me to go faster and harder...and he was happy to oblige. When I came, screaming his name, I forced him over the edge. He lightly bit my shoulder as I felt him empty himself inside me, his body lightly shaking as he did.

We laid there, catching our breath for a few minutes, Dave laying with his head between my breasts, still buried inside me.

Finally, he picked his head up to lay a sweet, soft kiss on my lips. “You were wonderful, tesoro mia.” He reached up and stroked my cheek. “Stay with me tonight?”

It was only after - against my better judgment - I agreed to stay that he finally slid from within me and rolled to lay at my side. I was shocked when he reached out and pulled me to lay against his firm chest.

He reached over and turned out the bedside lamp before wrapping me tightly in his arms.

“Get some rest.” He dropped a kiss to the top of my head. “I’m nowhere near done with you, sweetheart.”

I shivered in anticipation.

Dave had awoken me at dawn the next morning to make love once again. Since auditions were finished in New York and Mel was apparently shaking up with Mr. 300 himself in another hotel, I let Dave convince me to spend the rest of the weekend with him.

We didn’t leave the suite once but we didn’t spend all of our time having sex either. We also talked...a lot. I learned about his childhood growing up on Long Island and about his time in the Marine Corps. I finally had gotten up the courage to tell him what I did for a living...or at least some of it. I told him about winning a Disney star-search when I was a kid. I told him how I had joined the girl-band, Tru Dezire (for some reason we thought it was cool to purposely misspell things back in the day) when I was thirteen and had three hit records with the band before we had disbanded at the end of the late 90’s/early 2000’s pop craze. I told him that I judged professional talent competitions for a living now...which I did. _America’s Got Talent_ and _Britain's Got Talent_ and Britain's Got Talent (on which I was also a judge) did count...I just didn’t name them. By Sunday, he had told me about his three failed marriages and I had willingly shared a few amusing stories about Jasmine. I was careful to not speak of her father and Dave didn’t push for any information.

By Sunday night, I knew that I was in love with him...and I knew it wouldn’t end well. Experience had taught me that with Jasmine’s father. After we made love one final time, I waited for Dave to fall asleep before slipping from the bed. I couldn’t stay with him. This wasn’t like the last time I was in love. There wasn’t just me to consider anymore. I had a daughter to think about.

I quietly and quickly dressed in the dark. I laid one final kiss on Dave’s cheek as he slept before walking out the door...and out of his life.


	2. PART II: DAVE

As I pulled my Escalade out of the airport parking lot in DC, I was hating my life. I thought that I had actually found the right woman. Briar was everything that I didn’t know I was looking for. She was beautiful...anyone with eyes could see that. No, what I loved about her were the things that you couldn’t see. The sweet southern accent. The natural intelligence and sincere shyness. The way she clearly adored her daughter. They had been together for two days and she must have called her mother twenty times to check on and speak to the little girl. She was warm and affectionate, but she wasn’t needy. This was really refreshing for me. She didn’t beg for my touch. This had the effect of making me want to make sure that she never needed to. Unlike all of my ex-wives, she didn’t push me to open up to her. This just seemed to encourage me to do just that. I met her on Friday evening and by Saturday morning, I was in love with her.

I knew that she was hiding something. She had been very evasive when it came to her work and she mentioned almost nothing about her daughter’s father. Whoever the son of bitch was, I knew that he had hurt her deeply. She was so shy and skittish and from hearing her speak to her mother, I knew these weren’t traits that had been picked up at home. No, the man who had fathered little Jasmine had done that to her. By Sunday night, I knew that I was willing to do anything to make a relationship with her work. Hell, I would have retired from the FBI if she had asked me to. I never got the chance to even offer because she had fled in the night.

It was almost like fate. I looked up at the newest billboard on the side of the Dulles Toll Road...and there my girl was...sort of.

She was pictured on the billboard with three other celebrities...the only one of which I knew was Howie Mandel, and she was dressed to the nines. She was wearing a green slip of a dress and black stilettos and was made up to all hell. She was beautiful...but not nearly as beautiful as when she was lying naked, face completely free of unneeded cosmetics, in my bed.

Before I passed by completely, I managed to read the large white letters of the billboard.

_***** AMERICA’S GOT TALENT! LIVE SHOWS NOW FILMING AT CONSITUTION HALL! CALL NOW FOR TICKETS OR VISIT US ONLINE! ***** _

Yep, it was fate all right. I knew the manager of _Consitution Hall_. He owned the cabin to the south of mine at Little Creek.

In that moment, I made a decision. God had blessed me with one last chance at love and a family...and I wasn’t going to blow it. I was willing to take some drastic changes to get and keep Briar in my life.

When I got back to my condo, my first call was to my favorite tech analyst, Garcia. I bribed her with a year’s worth of her favorite chocolate to dig up information on Briar’s life. I knew I wasn’t going to be able to break down her walls unless I knew her past...and she was obviously too scared or embarrassed - or both - to share that past with me.

After that, I had called my friend Neil at _Constitution Hall_ and asked him if it would be possible to get backstage at the first _America’s Got Talent_ live taping, which was taking place this coming Friday. I had to promise him the use of my favorite hunting rifle on our next deer hunting excursion but he had agreed.

With phone calls taken care of, I had once again gotten behind the wheel and headed off to two meetings. One with my lawyer. The other with my jeweler.

By Friday night, I was a big ball of nerves. I couldn’t believe what I was about to do but I also knew that, for my own happiness, I couldn’t not do it either.

For the entire hour of the live taping of _America’s Got Talent_ , I waited backstage in Briar’s dressing room and watched on the monitor hanging from the wall.

My girl was entertaining. She always seemed to be goofing around with the other female judge, Mel B., who I recognized as her friend from Destino’s on the night we meet. She was her normal sweet self when she gave her criticisms of the contestants, perhaps a little sweeter when a contestant was a kid. She kept a big smile on her face throughout the show but it didn’t reach her eyes...and I knew. She missed me. She hadn’t been unaffected by our separation and was simply putting on a happy face for the TV cameras.

After the show, I leaned against the wall and folded my arms over my chest as I waited for her.

When she opened the door and stepped inside, I actually saw the moment when she let the happy facade drop and a miserable look came over her way too made-up face.

She had closed the door and was kicking out of her heels before she finally noticed me.

“Da...Dave...wh...what are you doing here?” She stuttered while looking like a deer caught in the headlights.

“I came to get back something that belongs to me,” I replied casually with a shrug of my shoulders.

“What are you talking about?” She asked as she took a tentative step forward.

I uncrossed my arms and pushed away from the wall. Walking to stand right in front of her, I pulled her into my arms and possessively claimed her lips with mine.

“You,” I told her when we pulled apart. “I came to get you, cuore mia.”

“But...” She started to speak but I held a finger to her lips to silence her.

“No buts, I’m going to talk and you’re going to listen...it’s the least you can do after what you pulled in New York,” I told her firmly but I immediately felt bad when she guiltily cast her eyes to the ground. I laid a kiss on the forehead before continuing to speak. “I know that Jasmine’s sperm donor hurt you...Maurice Sanchez, I think his name is?”

She gasped in surprise.

“I work for the FBI, bella, it wasn’t hard for me to find out.” It really wasn’t. Garcia had been able to locate a copy of the agreement Sanchez, a Mexican soap opera heartthrob, had signed when Jasmine was born, relinquishing all rights to the little girl. “I’m not him, amore mia. I’m not going to leave you...or Jasmine, if you give me the chance to prove it to you. I don’t know how and I don’t know why but I fell in love with you in New York, Briar, and I can’t let you go.”

“I...fe...fell in love with...yo...you too.” She was crying against my chest now. Sobs racking her body as I held her and stroked her back to try and calm her. “But I was so scared....I’m still scared. I thought Moe loved me but I was really just a warm body and he bolted when I found out I was pregnant. It’s not just me that can get hurt this time.”

“You’re NOT going to get hurt this time and neither is Jasmine,” I told her resolutely. “All you’re going to get out of this is a husband that adores you and a father for your daughter...one that WON’T leave her.”

“Hu...husband?”

I chuckled. I was pretty good at making her stutter tonight.

I reached into the pocket of my pants and pulled out the one-of-a-kind emerald cut diamond ring that I had purchased four days earlier.

“Marry me, Briar?”

She stared at me for a long moment, studied me really, before finally nodding her head.

“This is insane...but okay.” She laughed as she reached up to wipe the tears off her face with the palms of her hands.

I slipped the ring on her finger before taking her lips in a kiss that promised so much more when we were finally alone in a locked bedroom.


	3. PART III: THE END

** ONE-YEAR-LATER **

I was exhausted as I made my way up the stairs towards the cabin’s master bedroom after locking up. Dave and I had hosted a dinner party for the members of his team and their families...this was on top of both of our mothers. The cabin had been packed to bursting...but it had been enjoyable.

Dave and I had been married for a little over a year now. If we had gotten engaged quickly after meeting...we had gotten married even quicker. Within two days of our engagement, we stood in front of a priest with nobody but Jasmine and our mothers in attendance as we exchanged vows. Most people thought we were crazy but I had yet to regret my decision. Dave was a loving and affectionate husband and an amazing father to Jasmine, who adored him...and had him wrapped around her three-year-old finger.

As I pushed open the bedroom door, I couldn’t help but smile. Dave lay propped up against the headboard of the bed and Jasmine lay asleep curled up on one side of him with her head on his chest and her thumb in her mouth. _A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving_ was playing on the television that hung above the dresser and our dog, Mudgie, lay asleep at the foot of the bed. This beautiful picture was my family.

“Come on, Mama,” David smiled tiredly and patted the empty space to his left on the mattress. “Plenty of room for you.”

I grinned before climbing into bed and cuddling beneath the covers, my head on the side of his chest not occupied by our daughter.

David leaned down and kissed my lips. “Have I ever told you how thankful I am for the two of you?” He asked quietly. “Because I am...beyond belief, tesoro mia.” He assured me.

“Do you think you could be thankful for one more?” I raised an eyebrow playfully.

“Seriously, bella?” He smiled happily as he moved the arm that was around my waist so he could place a hand on my still-flat belly.

We had been trying to have a second child for close to six months. I had found out about the baby a little over a week ago but I had wanted to wait for the right moment to tell him...this seemed like that moment, cuddled up with our little girl with only _Charlie Brown_ for background noise.

“Seriously, Daddy.’ I nodded.

He kissed me again, this time longer and deeper, and I was suddenly considering moving Jasmine to her own bed so Mommy and Daddy could have some alone time.

“I love you, Briar Rossi.” He told me as he held me tightly to him.

No matter how many times I heard it, I never tired of being referred to as a Rossi. I was proud to carry my husband’s name. I had even taken his last name professionally.

“I love you too.

_**FINIS** _


End file.
